Victory Investing $50 Million Into New Facility

Chris Furnari

Mar. 20, 2012 at 11:58 AM

Victory Brewing Company today announced plans to build a second brewery in Parkesburg Penn., which is just 14 miles west of its current location in Downingtown.

The new facility, a 212,000 square foot warehouse that was once a Green Giant distribution facility, will be capable of churning out 200,000 barrels annually, according to brewery spokesperson Karen Noonan. The company plans to install a 200-barrel brewhouse, a system much larger than its current 50-barrel setup.

Noonan said significant work needs to happen at the new site before it’s ready to go online in the summer of 2013.

“It needs to be completely built out,” she said. “We’re talking walls, tile, plumbingÔÇª all of that in addition to the construction that goes in to building a brewery is going to be time consuming.”

Noonan said the new location will eventually become the company’s center of operations.

“We will be taking all flagship brewing and packaging there,” she said. “Once it’s 100 percent up-and-running, Downingtown will become our limited-edition draft brewery where we will get to experiment with new recipes and flavors and hopefully discover new brands to add to our core family.”

Noonan said $50 million is being invested into the project, $28.5 million of which will cover the original lease, construction and new brewery equipment. Victory has also inked a lease-to-own deal on the property, which has the company committing $21.5 million over the next 7 years.

The company also plans to add more than 50 full-time jobs over the next five years.

Victory sold over 81,000 barrels of beer in 2011, up 38 percent from the 58,000 barrels it sold in 2010. Noonan said the company will likely cap out at 100,000 barrels in 2012.

UPDATE: Victory Brewing confirmed that the project is being financed with a traditional bank loan from First Niagara. Noonan said the financial group has been a ‘big supporter’ of the company since it was established in 1996.